Seniors Adriana Mathiason and Cameron Spencer have been named Commended Students in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program. This prestigious recognition places Adriana and Cameron among the top 2.62% of high school students across the nation who have demonstrated exceptional academic promise on this exam.
The National Merit Scholarship Program aims to honor academically talented students and encourage them to pursue rigorous college studies. More than 1.3 million students from 21,000 high schools entered this year’s competition by taking the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, with the top 50,000 highest scorers receiving program recognition.
We spoke with Adriana about this accomplishment. She is excited about her future after high school and is considering a career that would allow her to work in the fast-paced environment of the music industry. “Honestly, I just want to do something that lets me go to cool places,” she said, explaining her interest in working for a music venue, record label, concert touring company or in entertainment journalism. “The concert environment is just where I feel the most comfortable.”
Adriana’s first job was working for a music venue, and she enjoys the environment that she describes as “chaotic” and “fast-paced.” During an interaction with the lead singer of a band performing at the music venue, Adriana described how the band was off to get Taco Bell for the fifth night in a row, and then to Colorado. “It was the kind of thing that should probably sound horrible, but I definitely think there's something kind of glamorous about it,” she said.
In addition to her academic achievements, Adriana is proud of her work as a Specialist for Hennepin County Libraries. “Libraries are awesome and being a librarian is awesome-er,” she said. “We serve a really broad demographic of my neighborhood community in Minneapolis, and it's cool getting to see the same people come back in every week and hear how their lives are going.” A few of her favorite library memories include the time when a patron gave her a manuscript he was working on about a fishing trip he went on. “It ended up being really insightful, even though I don’t fish,” she said. Another encounter began when a patron asked Adriana what brand of hair dye she used. “It was a brand called Arctic Fox, and then she told me she works as a conservation specialist and showed me a bunch of pictures of her with rehabilitated arctic foxes on her phone,” shared Adriana. “I think about those interactions all the time. This is basically a plug for the library,” she said. “Go get a library card.”
Adriana is also an avid reader, writer and (not surprisingly) music lover. Her favorite books are Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and Geek Love by Katherin Dunn. She DJs for the University of Minnesota’s college station, plays bass and attends as many concerts as she can. “I like media-based hobbies,” said Adriana. “When I was younger I would get in trouble on my soccer team because I liked to stand around and watch the players more than I liked actually playing, if that gives you any hints about my athleticism,” she joked.
Adriana's favorite classes at RHS have included AP Biology with Mr. Collins, AP Language and Composition with Ms. Johnson, and CIS American History with Mr. Avery. She enjoys exploring complex themes in humanities-based subjects, which allow for deeper engagement and interpretation.
Her advice for underclassmen? "There are so many resources available at the high school, and you get to pick and choose which ones you want to take advantage of. It's easy to get overwhelmed, but at the end of the day it's about finding what you're actually passionate about and developing that."
Please join us in congratulating Adriana Mathiason and Cameron Spencer on their outstanding academic accomplishments and wishing them continued success in their future endeavors.